Well, there is the question of trade, though the tree that produces shea butter does grow in a pretty wide swath across the northwestern middle part of Africa. And from what I can tell of the historical trade routes, it seems like it wouldn't be too far-fetched to have trade between, say, Nigeria and Tanzania -- except I'm still piecing together whether this would've been possible in the early 1920s, or if trade would've been barred/interrupted by protectorates of the Mozambique Company ilk. Elsewhere those tended to control all trade in/out, also I'm not sure whether the Germans or Brits did similar while they held Tanzania... Other questions to answer, but in general, you've given me a good place to start digging deeper. Thanks!
Which I'll get back to, right after I'm done being sidetracked with fascination about the (shea butter) tree itself, because a fire-resistant tree sounds like the most amazing evolutionary adaptation. Why, yes, I am a green-thing kind of geek.
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Date: 30 Sep 2009 10:10 pm (UTC)Which I'll get back to, right after I'm done being sidetracked with fascination about the (shea butter) tree itself, because a fire-resistant tree sounds like the most amazing evolutionary adaptation. Why, yes, I am a green-thing kind of geek.